Customer Reviews

Dinosaur Tracks and Other Fossil Footprints of the Western United States

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"Dinosaur Tracks and Other Footprints of the Western United States" written by Martin Lockley and Adrian P. Hunt is a gem of a text book covering dinosaur tracks left by dinosaurs millions of years ago. It not only tells you how to observe and record the trackways, but gives you the areas in which trackways have been found throughout the Western United States.

"Dinosaur Tracks" names the trackways, gives an explaination as to how the tracks are preserved and where are the tracks...incorporating interpretation of fossil footprints along with track assemblages is found with the pages of this book. We see tracks throughout time and the book touches on conservation and preservation of trackways.

There are 7 major chapters in the book and they are as follows:

An Introduction to Fossil Footprints

Ancient Tracks: The Paleoxoic Era

Archosaur Ascendancy: The Triassic

Days of Dinosaur Dominance I: The Jurassic

Days of Dinosaur Dominance II: The Cretaceous

The Age of Birds and Mammals: The Cenozoic Era

Tracks Galore, and What They Can Tell Us.

The footprint sites and exhibits in the Western United States covers the following states. Arizona with Lake Powell, Museum of Nothern Arizona, and Tuba City. California with Raymond Alf Museum and The University of California at Berkley. Colorado with Dinosaur Ridge, Dinosaur Valley, Purgatorie Valley, Rancho Rio, and University of Colorado at Denver. Nebraska with Toadstool Park, Ogallalla National Grassland. New Mexico with Clayton Lake State Park and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science. South Dakota at Hot Springs Mammoth Site. Texas with Dinosaur Valley State Park. Utah with The Molab Vicinity, Prehistoric Museum, College of Eastern Utah, The Vernal Vicinity, and The Warner Valley. These sites are covered well within the pages of this book.

There are diagrams and pictures of the actual footprint trackways and the explaination as to what type of dinosaurs or animal make the tracks. There is adequate discussion as to why they are what they are.

I found the book to be written like a text book, but with a style that keeps you interested about the subject at hand. The is excellent discussion and the book is well reasoned out. "Dinosaur Tracks" is a book for the serious dinosaur enthusist... this is a college text and reads like one, for an audience that is either taking geology or paleontology. I gave "Dinosaur Tracks" a solid 5 star rating for an excellent presentation of the subject and an interesting book about dinosaur footprints and their interpretation.

This book is well-written and informative. It's not for scientists, but it's not for the intellectually lazy, either. It describes a number of sites that I want to visit. It is more of a description of geology and the formation of tracks than a "travel guide" to the accessible track sites. I personally would have preferred more of the latter.